Cthulhu Gonfalon Chapter 689

Chapter 689: Vol V Chapter 49

“I still feel like they will eventually fight,” Sui Xiong said.
“I feel the same. In the end, a physical battle will definitely take place. It’s not about if but rather when. Honestly though, why do they insist on fighting like this? They are all rich and powerful people; they could choose to consume good food and enjoy life every day. With generations of wealth before and ahead of them, why would they want to gamble it all away?” the God of Pleasure sighed and replied in annoyance.
Sui Xiong had wanted to explain the idea of added benefits but remembered that Javier was previously a mighty prince who didn’t want to retain the title of king even if it meant he would inherit much wealth and power. Thus, he would not understand the idea of added benefits. That would be like talking to a wall and wasting saliva. Instead, Sui Xiong thought for a while then said, “Once people hold onto a grudge, it will only deepen and affect more and more people. Even if certain individuals don’t see the need to fight, the clans on the whole would support its members and follow the herd mentality.”
“Surely, those who hold deep grudges are the minority?”
“Grudges and hate will always grow. For example, two knights are at odds with each other and cannot stand each other. They would definitely find their friends to fight against each other, and some of them would die in the process. The hate would then increase and spread, and the cycle would repeat again. Small fights amongst small groups will always eventually lead to bigger fights that involve more people,” the God of War Strategy, Augmentin said.
“I really don’t understand. What’s there to fight about? Even if the grudge is deep, is it really more important than one’s own life? If you die, you’d be left with nothing!” Javier sighed and muttered to himself.
“Death isn’t the main concern here. I mean, in this world, there are many other things that are more important than life,” the God of Justice, Yorgaardman, said.
Sui Xiong shook his head and refrained from joining the debate.
These were the three main views that were present among the gods. The God of Strategy and the God of Justice had different views, but they could at least understand the idea of fighting to the end over grudges. However, the God of Pleasure did not understand this, as he was of the opinion that living was the foundation of happiness. He felt that if there was no life, how could happiness exist?
Such a discussion among the gods with such different opinions would lead to nowhere, while the large migration continued to take place. Nearly a million people were in motion, and they moved like two large groups of ants in two lines resembling long dragons. On the vast land, they trudged on slowly.
Typically, with more people, the speed of travel would decrease. This could be explained by the idea that a few strong men could easily travel a kilometer, while even 0.3 kilometers would be a stretch for elderly folk.
The merchants’ migration movement progressed at a faster speed as they brought fewer items, which meant less weight to carry. To increase the efficiency of the migration, the merchants stopped to rest every 20 kilometers and arranged for free room and board along the way. Migrating merchants were also promised free delivery of furniture such that they did not have to carry burdensome items themselves. In this way, even with the lack of horses and vehicles, they could still travel by walking with relative ease.
On the other hand, the aristocratic side brought almost everything with them, such as small pans, tables and even bed frames. Many of them made use of a big cart to transport all these items.
Even though the migrating aristocrats mostly had family inheritances, unlike the poorer merchants, such an arrangement caused them to lose almost all their savings. Long-distance travel naturally cost a lot, and the compensation that they received could not make up for these expenses. When they tried to sell off big items that they could not transport, they were faced with the issue of bad business as the merchants in the south unanimously agreed not to make any purchases.
In the skies, the gods stayed invisible and observed the migration process.
“Although the weather now is still decently warm and not cold enough to freeze them to death, the aristocratic migrants may well starve to death along the way. They are lacking in terms of food resources,” commented the God of Justice as he furrowed his brows in worry.
“Even if they did have enough food, it wouldn’t help things. With the current weather, the food would perish over a few days, even for grains. We can help them by dispelling the rain clouds and ensuring that it doesn’t rain while they travel, but we cannot do anything about the food spoiling over time,” Sui Xiong replied.
“Isn’t this the God of Medicine’s specialization? Could he help us?” the Goddess of Wealth asked.
Arcaian, who had been rather overlooked all this time, shook his head and spoke up. “I have already sent all the clergymen to help out, but… even if my priests and pontifices could lend their magic, it is rather impossible to stop all the food from decomposing or spoiling over time as there aren’t enough of them.”
The God of Medicine’s core doctrine was to use techniques rather than magic to cure diseases. A certified clergyman should have received spiritual powers through praying and would be able to convert it to spells against pathogens to allow food to last longer. However, there were only a select few who understood and aligned with Arcaian’s ideology as well as possessed the necessary skills. Furthermore, counting his clergymen as well as Sacred Warriors, priests and pontifices, there were less than a hundred people. Even if they were to be fully mobilized, they would not really make much of a positive impact on the migrants and their food.
In reality, the idea of magic and science had foundational differences, and to mitigate them without affecting the people would almost be impossible.
Nevertheless, the God of Medicine sent down a few qualified priests and pontifices to help both the aristocrats and the merchants.
According to the past, the merchants and the church of the God of Medicine were originally friends when this church was first started in the Commonwealth. They had received much initial support from the merchants, and any merchants had also regularly attended this church. They had several disciples as compared to the aristocrats. This was due to the differing social statuses of the merchants and aristocrats. The merchants mostly did not have inheritance and thus wanted their children to learn some skills, whether it was to become a doctor or a laborer.
On the other hand, aristocratic families mostly had inheritances or at the very least shops to pass down, and thus the younger generations did not have to do much and could just live life in a carefree manner. Those rare aristocratic children with no inheritance usually became explorers or scholars, in which the former had power and the latter had status. It was hard to convince the aristocrats to let their children hone medical skills to offer services to the people. Even if they were willing to learn, it would have been seen as a hobby and not as a legitimate career.
If Arcaian had not discovered this fact and sent down some oracles, the aristocrats would have badly lacked help and would not have had the volunteered medical aid by priests of the God of Medicine!